What happens if blood sugar is high for a long time?

In real life, high blood sugar is a very common physical disease. Suffering from high blood sugar will not only easily affect normal life, but also cause certain damage to the health of the body. Long-term high blood sugar is also very bad for the body, which can easily lead to poor resistance or physical fatigue, and can also easily cause other chronic diseases.

What happens if the body has high blood sugar for a long time?

What are the dangers of long-term high blood sugar?

1. Leading to dehydration and hyperosmotic state of the body: High blood sugar causes a large amount of glucose to be excreted in the urine, causing osmotic diuresis, leading to dehydration of the body. Dehydration increases the osmotic pressure of the extracellular fluid, and water transfers from inside the cells to outside the cells, causing intracellular water loss. Water loss in brain cells can cause brain dysfunction and even coma, which is clinically called "hyperosmotic coma."

2. Fatigue and weakness: Due to the lack of insulin, the glucose in the blood cannot enter the cells normally to burn and generate energy, and the cells cannot obtain enough energy. Moreover, the cells cannot convert glucose into other substances for storage. When blood sugar exceeds the renal retention value, the sugar is excreted in the urine, causing a waste of energy in the body, so the whole body feels tired and weak.

3. Reduced resistance: Under high blood sugar conditions, glucose cannot be absorbed and utilized by the body very well but is lost in large quantities in the urine. The body provides energy by breaking down fat and protein, resulting in a decrease in the body's immunity.

4. Metabolic disorders: When blood sugar is high, the body's protein and fat will have metabolic disorders, which can cause various complications. Acute complications include ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar coma. Hyperosmolar coma is mainly caused by high blood sugar, which can sometimes reach 500-600 mg/d1. It can cause dehydration of brain cells and other tissue cells, leading to coma.

5. Causes various chronic accompanying symptoms of blood vessels and nerves: Long-term high blood sugar in diabetic patients will damage blood vessels and nerves, leading to the occurrence and development of chronic accompanying symptoms such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy and diabetic foot necrosis.

6. Water and electrolyte disorders: Because pure glucose is a solid substance, it must be dissolved in water to be excreted from the body through the kidneys with urine. Therefore, when glucose is excreted through the kidneys of patients with hyperglycemia, a certain amount of water will be taken away. The more sugar there is in the urine, the more water is taken away from the body. Polyuria can take away electrolytes in the body, leading to water and electrolyte metabolism disorders.

7. β-cell failure: Long-term high blood sugar continuously stimulates pancreatic β-cells, causing their failure and less insulin secretion.

8. Increased osmotic pressure: When blood sugar is high, the osmotic pressure of the extracellular fluid increases, and the intracellular fluid flows to the extracellular area, resulting in water loss in the cells. When brain cells lose water, it can cause brain dysfunction, which is clinically called hyperosmotic coma.

9. Decreased vision: When blood sugar rises, vision often decreases.

10. Electrolyte imbalance: When blood sugar is high, a large amount of urination occurs, which takes away electrolytes in the urine and causes electrolyte imbalance.